


a little aggressive

by kendrasaunders



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 12:25:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12254349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kendrasaunders/pseuds/kendrasaunders
Summary: in a world where the black canary emerged to protect central city around the same time as the flash, iris west spends her time trying to track down the elusive superheroine. a sit-down interview is more than she could've ever hoped for, and somehow still not enough at all.





	a little aggressive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mysilenceknot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysilenceknot/gifts).



> so i made [this gifset](http://kendrasaunders.tumblr.com/post/157672118084/after-the-particle-accelerator-exploded-iris) like 600 years ago and now i have finally written fic for this universe and i am. so happy. please enjoy these beautiful sapphics

The Black Canary is already inside Jitters when Iris unlocks the front door, right on the dot at 2 AM, as promised. Iris, who had thought she might not even show, finds her very presence, the casual way she holds herself, kind of shocking- But she says nothing, and instead opts to lock the door behind her and smooth her skirt.

“Long night?” she asks, and it’s a normal voice, a woman’s one, the first time Iris has heard her speak normally, and not bellow from far away. 

Iris gives a kind of bemused smile. “Isn’t that what I should be asking you?”

She gives a shrug of her shoulders. “You can ask, if you’d like.”

“Have you-“ Iris approaches her, to make sure that she’s real. “Have you had a long night?”

“Yes,” she responds, and doesn’t move away.

“Can I make you some coffee?” Iris says. 

“Everything’s closed up,” she points out.

“I used to work here,” Iris says. “I know the ropes.”

She watches the Black Canary give her a once over, before her eyes flick to the windows, and then back to Iris. “The Flash a friend of yours?”

“What?” Iris asks.

“He’s checked the perimeter about-“ She squints at the window. “Now six times.”

“He’s um-“ Iris looks to the window, the grass outside of Jitters, yellow under streetlamps. “We’re close, yeah.”

“Every time he goes by,” Laurel says. “There’s a slight movement to the grass.”

“I’ve never thought of looking for that,” Iris says.

“It’s my job to look for it,” she replies, still just leaning against the bar. “He’s protective.”

“He doesn’t know you,” Iris says. “None of us know you. That’s why you- Found my number, right? Because you want me to get to know you.”

She has green eyes. The Black Canary has green eyes. “I suppose.”

“What is your job?” Iris asks. “Outside of being a vigilante, I mean.”

“No comment,” she says. She tilts her head to the bar. “Did you say something about coffee?”

“Would you like?” Iris asks.

“If I’m already up,” she says. “Black’s fine.”

“Black Canary,” Iris says. “Black coffee.”

“Cute,” she says, and Iris pretends she can’t feel her face get a little warmer. 

“So why did you call me?” Iris says, turning on the grinder and taking a spoonful of beans. “There’s bigger names in Central City.”

“You’re the meta expert,” she says. “I’m a meta. You’ve been following me. I felt… bad.” 

Iris presses the grinder button, hoping the piercing shriek of coffee beans being crushed might drown out the idea that the Black Canary has actually given her real time and consideration. “Oh,” she says, quietly, and waits until she switches the machine off. “Was I uh- Bothering you?”

“No,” she says. “But it’s- Dangerous. To follow me around like that. So I thought I should come to you.”

“I don’t mind the danger,” Iris says. 

“You should,” the Canary says, and Iris choses not to respond, instead filling the filter with grounds.

“So you trust me, then,” Iris says, and remembers that she has to fill the pot with water, but if she turns on the water, she’ll drown out her answer.

So she waits, until Black Canary looks at her, and then to the empty coffee pot.

“Do you trust me?” Iris repeats.

“I think you want your story,” she says. “And I don’t think you should have to lose your life over it.”

“Yes but,” Iris says. “You’ve saved my life. A couple times by now. And once wasn’t even my fault. I mean- I wasn’t- We just happened to be on the same trail, is all.”

“Are you a metahuman?” she asks, and for a second Iris pauses.

“What?”

“Jumping into danger,” she says. “Always at the crime scene. Are you… one of us? You can tell me, Iris. I can- I would understand. If you hadn’t told anyone else.”

Iris purses her lips before shaking her head. “I’m not a metahuman,” she says. “But I should be, right? I mean, I’m just as on it as The Flash is. As you are. I just don’t have the powers.”

“Have you expressed that to anyone?” she says. “That feeling?”

Iris turns on the tap. “No.”

“Why not?” she asks.

Iris pours the water in and sets the machine to brew. “Can I record this?” she asks. “Just to keep things on the record.”

“I’d prefer you didn’t,” she says.

“Voice recognition?” Iris asks.

“Something like that,” she replies.

“So you don’t trust me,” Iris says.

“I like you, Iris,” she says. “I think you’ve got your head in the right place.”

“Don’t try to be cute,” Iris says. “That’s not what I asked.”

“You think I’m cute?” she says.

“I won’t-“ Iris sighs. “If you won’t tell me who you are, then I won’t run your voice through any software.”

“What if your phone gets hacked?” she asks.

“You know, if you just used one of those-“ Iris touches the corner of her mouth. “Voice things. Then we’d have an easier time.”

“Tried,” she says. “Shattered about four of them before my recon told me to just deepen my voice when I talk to people on my own.”

“Right,” Iris says. “Because you scream.”

“I prefer to call it crying,” she says. “The canary cry.”

“Oh,” Iris says, and knows that Cisco is probably going to get a tattoo that reads “CANARY CRY” somewhere on his body. “That’s- You- I like that,” she says.

“Thanks,” Canary replies.

“Can I take notes?” Iris asks.

“Notes are fine,” she says. 

“Well,” Iris says, nodding for her purse. Black Canary hands it to her over the counter, and for a second Iris watches the flexing of her fingers under the tight black leather of her gloves. She clears her throat, taking her bag and rifling around for her notepad. “There’s something charming about being old-fashioned.”

“You think so?” she asks. “You don’t seem very old-fashioned to me.”

“You make a lot of observations,” Iris says. “Are you- Ha!” She pulls out her notepad with a triumphant grin, putting her purse off to the side.

Black Canary tilts her head. “Am I?”

“Some kind of journalist under that mask?” Iris asks, pulling her pen from where it’s been tucked in the notebook’s spiral spine. “Or a cop?”

“No comment,” she says.

“Is that your go to answer?” Iris asks.

“Yes,” the Canary says.

“You can’t have asked for an interview just to say no comment the whole time,” Iris says.

“Then ask questions I can answer,” she replies, and they lock eyes for just a second before the coffee machine goes off.

“Shit!” Iris says, jumping about three inches out of her skin, then shuddering in embarrassment. “I mean- Let me get that. Is a regular mug fine?”

“Sure,” she says.

“What are questions that you’ll answer?” Iris says. “I can’t ask you your name. I can’t ask you where you’re from. I can’t record your voice.”

“What do you want to ask me?” she says.

Iris hands her a cup of coffee. “Can I ask you if you’re from Central City?”

“Sure,” she says.

“Will you answer?” Iris says.

She considers it, looks down at her coffee. Back to Iris. “I’m not from Central City.”

“Crap,” Iris says. “I wasn’t expecting you to- Let me just put my coffee down so I can take notes. Can we sit?”

“That’d be nice,” she says. “Not by the window.

“Because of The Flash?” Iris asks.

“Because of The Flash,” she responds. 

“He’s really not always like this,” Iris says.

“Is he your boyfriend?” she asks.

“Oh,” Iris says. “I mean. Not right… now.”

“So you’re taken,” she says.

“No!” Iris protests. “I mean. The Flash and I are- This isn’t about him. This is about uh- Just us girls, you know? I’m not exclusively seeing any. Men. Are you?”

“No,” she says.

“No comment or just no?” Iris asks.

“Just no,” she says.

 

 

Iris climbs into the stool at the counter beside Black Canary, and pretends her stomach isn’t in a knot. “Oh.”

“Are you seeing any women?” Iris asks.

“Sometimes,” she says.

“Is this a date?” Iris asks.

“It’s an interview,” she replies.

“True,” Iris says, finally flipping open her notepad and scribbling down NOT FROM CENTRAL. “I don’t date people who’s names I don’t know.”

“Then this is definitely not a date,” Canary says.

Iris sucks on her cheek. “Unless you give me your name.”

She watches Black Canary’s thighs for a moment, as she turns to face Iris in her seat. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

“Do I seem seductive?” Iris asks.

“No comment,” she says. 

Iris tries not to drive her pen through her notebook. “So you wear a wig,” she says, kind of abruptly, kind of trying to be casual. “Why blonde?”

“It’s a long story,” she says.

“Shorten it,” Iris says.

“It reminds me of someone in my family,” she says.

“Who?” Iris asks.

“No comment,” she says.

“So you’re not from Central,” Iris says. “Is your family?”

“No comment.”

“Why were you here when the particle accelerator exploded?” Iris says.

She considers it. “I was visiting someone.”

“And if you’re not from here,” Iris says. “Why did you choose to stay?”

“Because the city needs me,” she says. “There’s a lot of metahumans running around. A lot of non-meta criminals, too. I wanted to help.”

“You are helping,” Iris says. “A lot.”

“Is that on the record?” Canary asks. 

“It’s my observation,” she replies. 

“How did you find out you had powers?” Iris asks.

“I lost my voice for a few days,” she says, tapping her finger on the counter. “And then I woke up one morning and tried to speak and blew out the windows.”

“Sounds terrifying,” Iris says.

“Yeah,” she says. “It kind of was.”

“Were you still in Central when it happened?” Iris says.

“No,” she says. “I’d gone home.”

“So you came back,” Iris says. “Why Central City?”

“What?” she asks.

“Well, Star City’s always has problems, for example,” Iris says. “Or Bludhaven. Gotham. Plenty of places to go help out.”

“I was thinking about Gotham,” she says. “In all honesty, I still am. I have to see how the next few months go.”

“So you haven’t made up your mind on us, yet?” Iris asks. 

Black Canary meets her gaze. “I think Central City needs some extra help right now,” she says. “But I will go wherever I’m needed.”

“The Flash has worked with the Green Arrow in Star City, actually,” Iris says. “Have you worked with him?”

She watches, very carefully, as the Black Canary frowns. “No.”

“Oh,” Iris says.

“I haven’t worked with The Flash, either,” she points out. 

“Do you know the Green Arrow?” Iris asks.

She shifts in her seat. “No comment.”

Iris taps her pen against her notepad. “Oh.”

“It’s not important,” she says. “He’s not important.”

“No,” Iris says, writing down ASK FLASH ABOUT GA PROBLEM. “I’ve never really thought so.”

There’s a pause, Iris waiting to see if she can get anything else out of Black Canary on the topic. She doesn’t seem willing to budge.

Iris lets out a sigh. “You said you have a recon person,” Iris says. “Did you know them before or after the explosion?”

“Before,” she says.

“And they wanted to help you be a hero?” Iris asks.

“Yes,” she says.

“Would you consider working with Team Flash’s recon person?”

Black Canary gives a small smile, tilts her head. “Is that for the paper or for your friends?”

“My friends,” Iris says. “And… for me. Honestly.”

“Would you get mad at your friend Cisco if I said I already have?” she says. “Off the record.”

Iris opens and closes her mouth, letting out a noise of offense. “Are you shitting me?”

“Okay,” Black Canary says. “So maybe I didn’t come up with ‘Canary Cry,’ on my own.”

“He knew!” Iris says, smacking the counter with her notebook. “Is that how you got my number?” 

“No, that I found on your Instagram,” she says. “You should be more careful with your privacy settings.”

Iris clears her throat. “How long have you been working with Cisco?”

“On and off for a month,” she says. “The Flash didn’t know either.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s going to be-“ Shrieking with jealously- “Glad to know Cisco’s had the situation under control.”

“I doubt that,” she says.

“It’ll be fine,” Iris says. “He’s- You’re- So what’s been your favorite thing about helping the people of Central City?”

“You’re all very sweet,” she says. “And it’s sunnier, here.”

“So you’re from somewhere where it rains,” Iris says.

“No comment.”

“Are there people out there?” Iris asks. “That know who you are?”

Black Canary presses her lips into a line. The corners of her mouth turn up, not in a smile but in a kind of grimace. “Yes.”

“Do you work with them?” Iris asks.

“No comment,” she says.

“Is there anything you want to maybe,” Iris weighs her words. “Is there any message you want to send as the Black Canary?”

“To the people who know who I am, or in general?” she asks.

“Make it vague,” Iris offers.

She runs her tongue against her bottom teeth. “Okay,” she says. “I think people should know that I’m not- I’m someone who won’t go after people who can’t fight back. I know that things in Central City can be complicated. I know meta humans only complicate things further. So if you hurt people, I will hurt you. That’s my policy. If you hit someone, I’m the person that will hit you back.”

“Wow,” Iris says, trying to write down the words as quickly as she can.

“I’m not afraid of the dark,” she says. “I think the dark should be afraid of me. If you have something to hide, I’ll find you. If you hurt the innocent, I’ll find you. If you think you can stop me, you can’t.”

“Who’s tried to stop you?” Iris asks.

“No comment,” she says.

“Why would anyone try to stop you?” Iris asks. “You’re amazing. You have your cry and the way you move in a fight- Who taught you how to move like that, anyway?”

She lets out a small chuckle. “A couple of old friends.”

“And the first part of that question?” Iris says.

Black Canary gives Iris a wry sort of smile, lifting her mug to her lips. “No comment.”

“You’re infuriating,” she says. 

“So I’ve been told,” Canary replies. 

“Yeah,” Iris says. “Me too.”

Black Canary studies her face for a moment. “People don’t like a woman who can’t take no for an answer.”

“Oh, not me,” Iris says. “I love aggressive women.”

Canary leans forward. “Is that so?”

Iris sucks in a breath. “Yes.”

“Maybe you love aggressive women because you are one,” she says.

“Do I seem aggressive to you?” Iris asks.

“You seem like you can be,” she says.

Iris almost closes her eyes in that moment, but is caught by two fingers against her lips. “I should go,” Black Canary says. “I’ve got a drug ring to bust at four.”

Iris blinks at her, not moving her mouth away from her fingers.

“You have enough?” she asks.

Iris shrugs.

She gets a grin in response. “I’ll see you around, Iris,” she says, moving her fingers off Iris’ lips. “Thanks for the coffee.”

“You’re welcome,” Iris manages, sitting there shivering as Black Canary gets off her bar stool and heads for the rear exit. “You’ll be in touch?”

Black Canary turns to look at Iris over her shoulder, and presses those same two fingers to her own lips. And then she’s out the back door as silently as Iris is sure she came in, and Iris is alone at Jitters at three in the morning.

She clenches her thighs together and balls her hands into fists. “Oh,” she says. “Oh, okay. I’ll just be here then.” She feels very suddenly like she needs to catch her breath, and opts to lift her fingers to her lips. “You go do that,” she adds.

She leans her arm on the counter and allows herself to swoon. She can hear the distinct roar of an engine mixed with her heart pounding in her ears.

When she closes her eyes to breathe, all she sees is black and green.


End file.
